<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>you bet your fur by rosiethot</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25195210">you bet your fur</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosiethot/pseuds/rosiethot'>rosiethot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Biting, Blood, Blood and Violence, Bottom Eddie Kaspbrak, Breeding Kink, Codependency, Crying, D/s elements, Dark Richie Tozier, Dominant Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Homophobic Language, Jealousy, Knotting, Light Angst, M/M, Marks, Mating Bites, Monsterfucking, Obsessive Behavior, Porn With Plot, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Richie Tozier, Possessive Sex, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Rimming, Scratching, Smut, Submissive Eddie Kaspbrak, The Dom Top Richie Renaissance, Top Richie Tozier, Underage Sex, Unsafe Sex, Werewolf Richie Tozier, emotional crying not just from getting rawed within an inch of your life, kind of</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:13:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,699</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25195210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosiethot/pseuds/rosiethot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>werewolf pennywise takes a chunk out of young richie tozier leaving him with a monster lurking in his mind for years to come. it doesn’t matter though, because eddie loves him regardless.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>188</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you bet your fur</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>the hot water spraying eddie’s worn body only pushed him further into a daze. the edges of his vision going a bit fuzzy as he blankly stared at the wall across, the previous events of the day replaying in his mind.</p>
<p>eddie had retrieved his sacrifice and, after promptly being vomited on by the same leper that haunted his childhood, hauled ass back to the town house. beverly and ben were already there, whispering among themselves, when eddie walked in. eddie could see the worry on their faces at his appearance, but neither made a comment which eddie was grateful for.</p>
<p>he flashed them his newly purchased inhaler before jogging up the stairs. if he was going to kill an intergalactic murderous clown, he was going to do it once he was clean. or at least rinsed off.</p>
<p>that’s how he found himself bent over the rusted faucet, scraping his fingers against the grime splattered across his face.</p>
<p>yet of course nothing would ever go so smoothly for him.</p>
<p>the hairs on the back of eddie’s neck prickled and he only had time to look up at the mirror for a second to see a figure lunging at him.</p>
<p>he was able to fling himself out of the line of attack yet the blade grasped in the figure’s hand still caught his cheek, leaving a nice bloody gash across it. as much as eddie wanted to tend to the wound immediately he was more preoccupied with the fact that henry fucking bowers was in his room with a knife trying to stab him.</p>
<p>“fag boy. did you miss me?”</p>
<p>the shriek eddie let out was so piercing that he wasn’t sure it came from him. bowers was on top of him, knife in hand, pointed directly at his face. eddie didn’t have time to think, barely having time to breathe thanks to henry knocking all the air of out him, as his own hands flew up to henry’s wrist, holding it back with all of his might.</p>
<p>“i said i was gonna kill you, fucker. ain’t one to go back on my word.” the lunatic hissed before dissolving into a cackle.</p>
<p>eddie, now fully kicked into fight mode, thrashed violently to throw the other off of him. unfortunately these past 27 years didn’t give eddie the bulk it gave henry, the deranged man easily pinning him to the floor with his weight.</p>
<p>eddie didn’t give up or let the imbalance deterr him as he kicked his legs and hips up no matter how much his muscles screamed at him.</p>
<p>out of nowhere henry was flung onto his back and another figure was clambering on top, throwing savage blows to his face.</p>
<p>eddie didn’t have time to cringe at the sickening crunch of bones or the sound of growling as he was scrambling up from the floor and into a slender frame.</p>
<p>“richie! you’ll <em>kill</em> him!” beverly shrieked as ben did his best to haul richie away.</p>
<p>the statement seemed to fall on deaf ears as richie began putting his weight into every punch. with one final tug, ben successfully removed richie’s seething form from henry, giving them a witness to richie’s work.</p>
<p>henry looked bad enough to begin with, imprisonment will do that to you, but now? it was almost as if his face was inside out. it made eddie sick to his stomach.</p>
<p>to everyone’s surprise, henry staggered up to his feet and before richie could escape ben’s grip to lunge at him, he was diving through the bathroom window.</p>
<p>eddie flinched when richie spun around to face him. richie’s expression scared him as much as henry did, if not more.</p>
<p>“son of a bitch must pay.” he snarled before shoving past ben.</p>
<p>the weight of darkness behind richie’s eyes as he stormed out brought eddie to his knees. how long had it been since he’s seen such savagery in richie’s eyes? the intense anger. the crippling fear.</p>
<p>his normally ocean blue eyes alight with mischievousness and glee veiled by shadows of a beast eddie couldn’t name.</p>
<p>as he kneeled crumpled on the tiled floor, he remembered the first time he had ever seen a hint of those shadows.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>the clubhouse was quiet seeing as it’s only inhabitants were currently eddie and stan. the two boys had curled up against each other in the hammock, rocking back and forth softly.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>neither of them spoke a word, but eddie liked it. he liked spending time with stan because stan never expected anything of eddie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>they could sit in silence, appreciating the quiet musical stylings of the local birds, and that was enough for the both of them.</em>
</p>
<p>sometimes you need to let nature get a few words in<em>, stan had once said.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>so that’s what they did. arms and legs squished together, almost melding in the sticky summer heat, stan gently rocking them with his feet planted on the dirt floor, eddie’s own not quite reaching. so peaceful and pleasant until the hatch door was being yanked open.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie had jumped while stan didn’t even bother to open his eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>bill was first to clamber down the ladder followed by richie. eddie opened his mouth to greet him but was cut off by stan saying, “next time come down a little louder, i don’t think the countries in asia heard you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>bill muttered a curse under his breath while richie silently walked over to the hammock. eddie blinked up at richie’s form, his eyebrow quirking up at the blank expression on richie’s face.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“what’s your problem, frog face?” stan spat, finally cracking open one eye. richie made not one move or word, merely standing there glaring down at the two in the hammock. stan glared right back despite the majority of richie’s focus being on eddie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“hey um c-can i talk t-to yuh-you, stan.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>stan slipped out of the hammock and briskly brushed past richie on his way to bill on the other side of the clubhouse. eddie craned his neck to peer into whatever secret meeting billy and stanny were having but was jostled by richie taking stan’s place.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s head whipped around to face richie who was currently occupied with shifting in his spot to get comfortable. the sigh that left him was heavy and he dropped his head back against the hammock, eyes closed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie watched richie warily, noticing the weight that so obviously pressed down on him. he thought maybe to just let it go, rock them quietly while richie relaxed, but the hair covering richie’s forehead parted due to the angle and eddie spotted a mark on his forehead.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“richie..!” eddie’s hands came up to gently turn richie’s head to face him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie allowed his head to fall to the side, eyes still shut as though he were in a deep sleep.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it was a open wound, bloody and red, but fortunately did not look extreme. almost as if a pebble had been shot against his forehead.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“what happened?” eddie whispered, jolting when a hand draped across his knee. richie’s eyes fluttered open. the usual bright blue were glazed over with a dusty gray type of film, criminally dulling the lively sea that was richie tozier’s eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“me and ol’ billy fought the devil.” richie murmured, “and almost lost.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie didn’t push for clarification. he didn’t need to. richie had been to hell to fight his demons, and he was able to come back. damaged maybe, but alive and breathing.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>and that thought alone stole eddie’s breath.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“let me put some neosporin on it? please?” richie blinked once then twice before nodding.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>silently eddie had then retrieved a travel size tube of antibiotic ointment from his fanny pack and had applied it to the wound, as carefully as he could with shaky fingers, all the while richie watching him with a look eddie couldn’t quite identify. it sent a shiver up eddie’s spine.</em>
</p>
<p><em>the way richie looked at him almost reminded him of how don lockwood would look at kathy seldan in that </em>singin in the rain<em> movie he and his mom watched last night. full of love and adoration.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>but something else in those leaden blue eyes brought up ugly memories of henry bowers’ expression when he spotted the short male in between classes. like he was something to toy with. something to hurt.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>and eddie didn’t know which scared him more.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>a couple days after that eddie had forgotten all about the cut on richie’s head and the aloofness of his demeanor. richie seemed to bounce back, being his usual loud obnoxious self.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>however, eddie did find it odd that richie had taken to wearing long sleeved flannels during summer.</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>the spray of water turned cool and eddie’s skin began to prick with small goosebumps from the change. it was enough to knock him out of his daze, persuading him to return back to his body. eddie shut off the water and covered his body with the stained towel provided. he felt bad using it, since it was technically beverly’s, but he supposed she would have to understand since she was the one to offer her shower to him.</p>
<p>after the ordeal in his own assigned bathroom, he was much too shaken to risk a shower there.</p>
<p>what if bowers clambered back in? eddie would have to fight him off at his most vulnerable moment. and the odds weren’t really with him in that situation.</p>
<p>beverly had softly carded her fingers through his hair as he broke down on the tiled floor after richie had stormed off with ben right behind him. he babbled apologies into her shirt for getting it so messy with his snot and tears but the red headed angel simply shushed him. she always did look after him.</p>
<p>so he had allowed beverly to gently guide him by the hand to her room. she was speaking to him but he didn’t catch a single word. it wasn’t until he heard the door shut behind him that his brain cleared out the haze of terror and informed him that he was here to shower and clean up the gash on his cheek.</p>
<p>and that’s what he did to some degree, stepping into the spray of lukewarm water, the crash from the adrenaline rush leaving him exhausted and trembling.</p>
<p>while eddie was able to scrape off the grime and blood caked over his face, he didn’t scrub himself pink as he normally does. he didn’t want to spend more time in the bathroom than he had to. he grabbed the towel off of the hanger, shying away from the mirror, a tic of his that he always seemed to have.</p>
<p>not even wanting his own reflection to see him undressed.</p>
<p>as the thin towel blanketed over his slender frame, eddie could, just for a second, see a mark of red across his thigh. it punched a gasp out of him, a wave of dizziness overcoming him. leaning back against the wall eddie breathed in and out shakily, trying to stop the world from spinning too fast.</p>
<p>
  <em>henry hadn’t gotten him there had he? no that wasn’t henry’s doing.</em>
</p>
<p>something in the deep recesses of his mind was being pried open and eddie could see it. he could see the red and purple blotch highlighting the teeth marks indented in his skin.</p>
<p>like a loose thread being pulled, the memory unfurled in front of him.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>in the middle of summer when the days began with scorching heat and ended with cooling breezes that had eddie wishing he didn’t start the day out with shorts. richie had a secret.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie was snug in the corner of the couch in bill’s living room that he shared occupancy with ben and beverly. with his knees drawn up to his chest he smiled softly at the pink dusting of ben’s cheeks as beverly laughed, wondering faintly if someone will ever look at him that way.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>his thoughts were interrupted by richie towering over him. with a glare that held no fire behind it he turned his attention to richie who was burning holes in ben’s head with his eyes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“are you going to sit down, rich?” bev inquired. richie simply huffed a breath before plopping down on the floor in front of eddie.</em>
</p>
<p><em>eddie could see the tension in richie’s shoulders and didn’t like it one bit. </em>he had been smiling a minute ago, who pissed in his popcorn just now?</p>
<p>
  <em>with no real thought process behind it, eddie uncurled his legs from his chest and draped them over richie’s shoulders. it startled richie, if the small jump of his shoulders were anything to go by, but he quickly recovered.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>in fact he threw his head back into eddie’s lap to deliver a goofy grin causing eddie to huff a giggle from his nose, proud of himself for bringing back his smile.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“bill and ted or a new hope, pick one.” mike had said, holding up both vhs tapes. bill immediately piped up with ‘a new hope!’ earning boos and popcorn to the hair courtesy of richie and stan.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“we’ve watched that like eleven times by now, my man.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“f-fine, bill and ted then.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>mike shot bill an apologetic smile as he slipped in the requested movie. the losers fell silent, minus the chewing of snacks and slurping of drinks, as the movie began.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie had let his head fall against eddie’s knee while one hand was curled around his ankle. the hold had eddie breathing sharply through his nose but soon found the grip almost comforting. eddie was aware his own build wasn’t as bulky or broad as the other boys, even at only thirteen, but that didn’t reduce the surprise he felt when he realize richie’s hand could perfectly wrap all the way around his ankle.</em>
</p>
<p>had richie grown?<em> all of them had grown in the last month in someway, eddie supposed. mainly height, although eddie couldn’t say he could relate. mike was the tallest originally but stan was giving him a run for his money by now. bill hadn’t filled out in length, but width. while he still was a lanky fellow, eddie had definitely noticed his shoulders broadening out. beverly grew in her own way, a way none of the boys could relate to.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie risked a peak at beverly from behind ben. he blushed lightly. he hadn’t made it a point to notice the expanding of her chest, but the growth was certainly there.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie placed ben under the same ‘late bloomer’ category as himself. neither of them seemed to have changed much since summer began. he figures at the very least, they could be the club’s ugly duckling gang that will flourish in high school. or at least he hoped.</em>
</p>
<p><em>but richie. had richie grown? </em>maybe<em>. had eddie noticed? </em>not really<em>. just because eddie blushed as he watched how his knees were perched prettily on richie’s shoulders and didn’t slip off didn’t mean he noticed richie’s upper torso broadening.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>and just because eddie gulped as he came to richie’s chin instead of his eyes when standing didn’t mean he took note of richie reaching 5’10 territory while eddie only hovered over 5’4 territory.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>and just because richie’s warm palm triggered goosebumps to flare across eddie’s skin did not mean that eddie realized how much bigger richie was than him. or how quickly richie seemed to fill out.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the hand on his ankle slipped up to wrap around his calf, forcing eddie to draw in a breath.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“are you okay?” ben had whispered. eddie blinked up at him. ben, with concern in his eyes, looking to him for assurance of his wellbeing. eddie smiled.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’m fine.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“are you slipping?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>a strange question that had eddie furrowing his eyebrows before he realized that, yes he was slouching. not just a little a bit as his chin was digging into his chest. why was he riding so low in his spot?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie himself couldn’t answer because right then richie was pressing his cheek against eddie’s inner thigh and eddie had to clamp his teeth down on his lower lip to keep from gasping. watching richie nuzzle the side of his face into the supple skin of eddie’s thigh had the poor boy trembling and he hoped richie didn’t notice.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“no no i’m fine, really, just tired.” eddie sent a gentle smile to ease ben’s concern. ben returned the smile before patting his own shoulder.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you can use me as a pillow. i-if you want.” the offer made eddie’s heart melt, ben had to be the sweetest loser among them in eddie’s eyes. eddie smiled wider and mumbled a small ‘thank you’ before resting his cheek against ben’s shoulder.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>ben did make a great pillow. eddie debated saying this out loud, afraid of seeming like he was poking fun at ben’s weight, so he settled with a joking, “i might fall asleep here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>a hushed giggle came out of ben, the movement of his shoulders jostling eddie a bit.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“it’s okay if you do. i’ll wake you when the movie’s done.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie grinned, “a true gentlemen, your future wife is lucky.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>ben looked down at eddie, his eyes bright with a sort of gratefulness and hopefulness. he smiled widely, which eddie returned, and opened his mouth to say something when a sharp yelp escaped eddie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>everyone was quick to whip around to see what the ruckus was. all eddie knew was the sharp pain burning into his thigh.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“richie what the </em>fuck<em>!” exclaimed stan. richie had his mouth latched onto eddie’s leg, his teeth boring into the flesh of his thigh. both of his hands were clasped tightly around eddie’s ankle, preventing any escape.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie let out pained whines as he pushed at richie’s head. richie only bit down harder, rolling the flesh between his teeth. eddie was certain that richie was about to take a chunk out of his leg as richie pulled his head away but didn’t release his bite.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“richie!” bill shouted, yanking richie by the arm. richie finally detached with a grunt. eddie looked down at the purple bite mark, spotted with blood.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“shit eh-eddie, hold on.” bill jumped up and made a dash for the kitchen. eddie’s thighs shook as a tiny blood droplet trickled down his thigh. richie’s eyes followed the trail with a terrible dark twinkle. eddie hadn’t noticed richie leaning back in until stan was grabbing the back of richie’s shirt collar and yanking him back.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“why the fuck would y-“</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie honest to god growled, deep and threatening, at stan leaving him speechless. stan’s mouth open and closed like a fish around the words he couldn’t find. bill darted back in clumsily with a wet rag and a bandage. when he leaned over eddie’s lap, richie growled again which made bill jump back.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>beverly stood up and slapped richie across the face. no one dared to even breathe while richie pressed a hand to his reddening cheek.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie’s moved slowly as if he were waking up from a deep sleep and still hadn’t fully connected back to the physical world.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he looked around at everyone’s accusing eyes before he finally locked eyes with eddie. eddie could only look back helplessly. he didn’t know what he did to make richie bite him so viciously. he could feel richie’s eyes drag down his stiff form.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“oh my go- shit, eddie, i did that? i’m so fucking sorry— jesus christ— i didn’t mean to.” richie rambled, moving to scoot closer to eddie. stan’s grip only tightened on the collar of richie’s shirt.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you didn’t mean to bite him bloody?” beverly asked, huffing out a disbelieving breath. richie blinked up at beverly, his mouth curved down, his head shaking like he was trying to clear it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>bill had leaned back over eddie to clean up the blood drying on his leg but eddie paid him no mind.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“i really didn’t!” richie insisted, his voice trembling. “i swear to </em>fucking<em> god.” even with richie facing beverly, the losers knew he was talking to everyone. especially eddie.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>the silence returned for a few more moments as bill pressed a bandaid to the bleeding spot of the mark richie left.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i just hope you’ve had your rabies shot.” eddie finally found his voice. richie whipped his head around to look at eddie so fast eddie knew it had to hurt his neck.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie studied him a moment before a shaky watery smile crossed his lips. his eyes held something in them that made eddie feel like his heart was collapsing in his chest.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the stormy blue seemed to have lightened, becoming soft and vulnerable. the only other time he saw that look was once, years ago after richie had made eddie cry by pretending to throw away his aspirator.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie remembers richie devilish smirk melting completely when the first tear fell, staining eddie’s puffy rosy cheeks. eddie had thought richie would start crying himself.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’m sure he has,” mike replied with a gentle half smile, and eddie appreciated his help in lightening the mood, “since you’re not rabid, wanna sit next to me?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>at face value it was a sweet forgettable request but eddie knew better, and so did richie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie however simply nodded before joining mike on the recliner. it was definitely a bad fit for two growing tall and broad boys but neither complained.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>beverly returned to her seat next to ben after bill had gently rested his hand on her shoulder with a curt nod.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the rest of the movie viewing went without another interruption but eddie got nothing out of it. he had no idea the place or time bill and ted were in. he could only look at the bandage on his leg and the purple peeking out from under it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the teeth marks on his leg were extremely prominent— showing the force of richie’s bite— dipping into the tender skin. the marks of his canines were the deepest. eddie brushed the tip of his finger across the marks, borderline marveling at the indents.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie didn’t realize his fingers were no longer brushing— but pressing — until he felt another crackle of pain snap across his thigh.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie sat up straight and almost missed richie staring at him before whipping his head back to the tv.</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>eddie delivered three soft knocks to the bathroom door to alert beverly of his exit. he wasn’t too surprised when he heard no reply. cracking the door open and peeking out he saw a vacant room.</p>
<p>beverly must’ve made herself scarce for him, which would be a considerate gesture if he hadn’t just survived an attempted murder. he didn’t really want to face anything alone right now.</p>
<p>eddie’s bare feet padded across the cold wood floor and he immediately regretted his hasty agreement to take beverly’s shower. even with what happened, why didn’t he take a minute to gather fresh clothes? his cheeks burned red as he tiptoed out of beverly’s room completely to make his way to his own.</p>
<p>eddie tried to not think about the eerie silence blanketing the town house hallways. slipping back into his room he noticed two things right away. first was that his door handle had scratch marks surrounding it. second was his suitcase thrown on his bed, zipped up only halfway. clothes were spilling out of the side unzipped, unfolded and messy. eddie could only think <em>what the fuck</em> before he saw movement out from the corner of his eye. eddie jerked back in fear, all of his muscles tensing up.</p>
<p>“hey chill out, it’s me!” richie held a hand out in surrender and eddie choked on a breath.</p>
<p>“jesus fuck, you can’t just-“ eddie wheezed, clenching his eyes shut, fighting the urge to grope for his inhaler.</p>
<p>“sorry.” richie murmured. eddie barely heard him as he focused on his breathing exercises. four seconds in. seven seconds hold. eight seconds out. he was fine. when he opened his eyes richie was hunched over his suitcase, one of his shirts gripped tightly in his fists.</p>
<p>“what are yo-“</p>
<p>“are you okay?”</p>
<p>eddie paused. was he?</p>
<p>he let out a humorless laugh. “as good as i can be, i guess.”</p>
<p>richie nodded, staring down at the fabric in his hands.</p>
<p>“are you okay? what are you doing in here?”</p>
<p>richie stayed silent, making eddie think he didn’t quite hear the question, and eddie opened his mouth to repeat himself when richie finally spoke.</p>
<p>“he almost got away.” eddie startled back a bit. he’s never heard richie’s voice sound so hard.</p>
<p>“who?” richie looked over at eddie. the darkness crowding in his eyes. eddie felt himself shrinking back against the wall.</p>
<p>“bowers. he almost gave me the slip.”</p>
<p>“what- what do you mean almost?” a beat passed before richie took a large step towards eddie, forcing the smaller to realize he was getting cornered.</p>
<p>“he tripped.” richie stalked closer.</p>
<p>“the fucker fell. he tried getting back up so i stepped on his fucking neck.” eddie made a pained whine at the thought, one hand shooting out to press against richie’s chest to keep some distance. it was quickly made evident that his attempt was useless as richie simply continued to invade his space.</p>
<p>“bowers swung at me. so i grabbed his fucking arm. <em>and broke it.”</em></p>
<p>“richie-“</p>
<p>“it almost reminded me of that day at neibolt. when your arm snapped.” a haze passed over eddie’s eyes as the memory crept into his mind. he had almost completely forgotten he had broken his arm. almost forgot how richie had snapped it back into place.</p>
<p>“but he didn’t even scream, he just laughed-“</p>
<p>“richie stop.”</p>
<p>to eddie’s surprise, richie did stop. he didn’t move closer, but he didn’t back away either. he stood in front of eddie, towering over his small frame, looking down at him with ice crystals shimmering in his irises.</p>
<p>eddie could feel richie’s warm breath fanning over his cheeks and nose, turning the skin there pink. richie’s heart was racing, eddie could feel it under his palm. the wild look in his eyes only added to the hysterical appearance, making eddie nervous.</p>
<p>“i-,” richie breathed, looking down at the shirt in his hands. he brought it up to his face slowly and took a deep whiff, “i could smell him before i could see him. it was disgusting. like a million dogs vomiting and shitting in a landfill. i could smell him in your room. i could fucking smell him on <em>you</em>.”</p>
<p>eddie didn’t notice that he was shaking until one of richie’s hand wrapped around eddie’s wrist. richie guided eddie’s hand away from his chest and up to cup his face.</p>
<p>richie nuzzled his cheek and nose into eddie small palm, taking another sniff.</p>
<p>“when i saw him on you i wanted to fucking rip his throat out.”</p>
<p>eddie gulped. “did you?”</p>
<p>“no, mike stopped me.”</p>
<p>eddie let out a breath that he wasn’t entirely sure was out of relief.</p>
<p>“is bowers, uhm,” eddie’s voice trembled, “i-is bowers still alive, richie?”</p>
<p>richie sighed into eddie’s palm, his scuff scraping the smooth skin.</p>
<p>“unless humans can survive an axe to the head i’m pretty fucking sure he’s outta the game.” richie grumbled. eddie felt himself gag.</p>
<p>“oh god, oh my god.” eddie wormed his hand out of richie’s grasp and stumbled towards the suitcase on the bed.</p>
<p>just before following beverly to her room eddie had tucked the inhaler away for safekeeping and now he needed it more than ever.</p>
<p>he snatched it from the inner pocket and took two puffs just as his breathing edged on wheezing.</p>
<p>he stayed hunched over his suitcase even when a heavy hand rested on his bare shoulder. he had almost forgotten he was only in a towel. pink dusted his cheeks.</p>
<p>“you’re okay.” richie said— no, ordered— and eddie straightened and turned back around to face richie again.</p>
<p>“you killed him?”</p>
<p>richie gave him a single nod.</p>
<p>“you killed him? you <em>murdered</em> him? you <em>murdered a fucking person?</em>”</p>
<p>“a fucking crazy person who tried to kill you!”</p>
<p>“richie it’s murder no matter who it is or for what reason!” eddie cried.</p>
<p>“i don’t fucking care, eddie, i fucking don’t. he’s had it coming for a long goddamn time. my only regret is not driving a fucking axe through his head earlier.”</p>
<p>eddie shrunk under the anger of those words.</p>
<p>“why would you-“</p>
<p>“why would i? he hurt you. that’s why. and i’d do it again. in fact i’d love to get a chance to kill him again. it was over way too fucking quickly. he didn’t deserve a quick death.”</p>
<p>eddie’s vision was going blurry and he couldn’t figure out why until a water droplet hit his chest. richie reached out to cup eddie’s cheek in his palm. the contact made eddie flinch which caused a hurt look to flash across richie’s eyes. richie’s thumb brushed away a stray tear.</p>
<p>“i should’ve protected you better. i shouldn’t have let you go alone, fuck, i shouldn’t have let mike talk us into this.” richie dropped his head to rest on eddie’s bare shoulder. “i’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“richie.. you can’t, you can’t put blame on yourself. i’m not your responsibility.” eddie said with a shaky voice. he let himself reach one hand up to rest gently upon richie’s nape.</p>
<p>eddie felt richie shake his head. “you don’t understand. yes you are. you always have been.”</p>
<p>“no, rich, i’m not. it’s not your fault if i get hurt or-“</p>
<p>richie straightened his back and brought his other hand up to cup the other side of eddie’s face.</p>
<p>“you have been and always will be my responsibility. ever since we met in elementary school, to when i made that mark on your leg. you were mine then, and you’re mine now.” the shadows behind richie’s eyes were moving again, dancing along the raging sea. almost tauntingly did they slither and twist, clouding the beautiful blue that eddie always marveled at.</p>
<p>eddie was breathless, his voice barely a whisper. “i don’t have a mark on my leg.”</p>
<p>“maybe not visibly anymore but it’s there. i can feel it. my mark. my first mark. although my second mark was the legitimate one.” richie had crowded eddie back up against the wall, his hot breath wafting over eddie’s trembling lips.</p>
<p>“how could you possibly feel it when i don’t?” and eddie couldn’t explain it, but it wasn’t a real question. in the back of his head he knew the answer.</p>
<p>richie closed his eyes so tightly, it looked painful. “because everyday since we’ve parted i’ve felt like i was dying. like someone took away part of my body and i’ve been struggling to survive without it. it felt like what i imagine people with failing lungs feel like. needing a machine to breathe for them because they can’t do it themselves.”</p>
<p>and eddie knew <em>exactly</em> what richie meant.</p>
<p>“the closer i got to derry the more i felt like i was gaining something back. some part of me. but i didn’t know what it was. until i walked into the restaurant and i saw you. standing there next to mike, still as tiny as ever.”</p>
<p>richie looked him up and down with his dark eyes and eddie was suddenly very aware of his lack of clothing.</p>
<p>“feeling cold?” richie asked in a lilted voice, letting one hand drop to thumb at one of eddie’s perked nipples. eddie let out a gasp at the electricity that surged through him from the contact, adjusting his towel to wrap around his chest instead of hips.</p>
<p>“please—“</p>
<p>“and then i walked up to you, and you looked up at me with your doe eyes and i remembered everything. felt everything that i had been missing for 23 fucking years. i thought i was going to <em>explode</em> with how intense everything was. but then i’d look at you and your dimples and everything just seemed so... right,” richie leaned down and pressed his forehead against eddie’s. “i know you felt it too.”</p>
<p>“i have no idea what you’re talking about, rich, i really don’t.”</p>
<p>richie’s face twisted in pain, “please don’t say that, i know you feel it too. i know you do. i know that you’re not happy with your wife. i know that you felt empty too.”</p>
<p>“you’re wrong, i’m happy with myra.” eddie said, but he knew how lifeless he sounded.</p>
<p>“no you aren’t.”</p>
<p>“who the fuck are you to tell me what my marriage is like? how would you even fucking know? just because you’re incapable of love, just because you don’t have a fucking significant other doesn’t mean everyone else is doomed to have shitty love lives. how the fuck would you know anything about my feelings?” eddie’s cheeks and nose flushed to a bright angry red, his hands at his sides balled up into tiny fists. richie looked him in the eye for a second longer before replying.</p>
<p>“where’s your wedding ring?”</p>
<p>on the surface it was a fucking moronic question that came out of no where but eddie’s face shifted from red anger to pale shock as he realized that his ring finger was bare.</p>
<p>he had it when he left new york. he had it when he got to the town house. he had it when he walked into the restaurant.</p>
<p>and that’s where he sees it. eddie sees himself looking at richie from across the table, unconsciously working the ring off of his hand and slipping it into his pants pocket. that ring hadn’t left his finger in six years but now here he was, hiding it from five of the six people he had trusted and loved most in his life.</p>
<p>and what for?</p>
<p>eddie knew. but he would never admit it.</p>
<p>“please leave so i can get dressed.”</p>
<p>richie quirked his head to the side. “since when do you not want me to see you naked?”</p>
<p>eddie’s eyes blazed again. “get out!”</p>
<p>“not until you remember.”</p>
<p>“remember what? you mauling my leg like a rabid dog at bill’s house? because yes i remember. i remember having to wear long jeans in the middle of summer to hide it. i remember rubbing it raw in my sleep and waking up to it looking worse.”</p>
<p>“can you remember why i did it?”</p>
<p>“because you’re a dick?”</p>
<p>richie’s jaw locked and eddie quickly snapped his mouth shut. they stared each other down before richie opened his mouth and spoke slowly,</p>
<p>“i know that you know why. and i know you’re avoiding it. but i’m not leaving, until you can look me in the eyes and say it.”</p>
<p>eddie huffed, looking away from richie’s face. he was getting that sinking feeling in his tummy. the one you get when you miss a step when going down the stairs. that dread of knowing you’re going to fall and you can’t change that. the fall is coming and injuries will follow, and there’s nothing you can do.</p>
<p>because eddie was suddenly almost thirty years younger, in the middle of that infamous derry summer.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>it hadn’t even been a full two days after the movie night when bill was calling for a meeting at the clubhouse. the bite mark on eddie’s thigh was painted a deep lilac, the indents faded. he had taken to wearing longer pants until it fully faded in hopes of avoiding his mother’s worries.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>beverly was just reaching down to pry open the hatch door when eddie arrived, the two descending into the room together.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the air was already tense despite mike and ben carrying on what seemed to be a very immersive conversation. bill and stan sat on the makeshift bench together while richie knelt in the corner silently. even in the derry summer, the cold energy surrounding richie made eddie shiver.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“there’s s-something we n-need to tell all uh-of you.” bill announced, sitting up straight. mike and ben halted their conversation, eddie and beverly leaned against the wood columns, while richie remained unmoving.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“suh-suh-something happened in juh-juh-juh-georgie’s room.” bill began. even as shaky as his retelling was, it didn’t take away any of the horror. richie and bill had seen a picture in georgie’s room move—</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“like what happened in my photo album?” mike had asked, receiving a sullen nod from richie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>— which drove bill to wanting— no, needing —to go to neibolt and hunt down the clown himself. richie was a reluctant partner in crime but stood behind bill the whole way through, something that made eddie’s heart swell.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“when we g-got in the c-c-cellar, we saw It.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you saw the clown?” ben piped up.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“yuh-yeah. well... no. It wuh-wasn’t a clown then. I-It was a w-w-“</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“a werewolf.” richie spat, startling almost all of them. bill released a breath before nodding in confirmation. for a few moments silence blanketed them as if they were trying to piece together what the ending of this story would be.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie drew in a sharp gasp, startling beverly beside him. “is that how you hurt your forehead?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie met his eyes and studied them for a few seconds before nodding. “that wasn’t the only way i got hurt.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the morbid statement hung in the air as richie stood up slowly and let his flannel fall off of his arms.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he rolled the right sleeve of his shirt up to his shoulder, revealing a large scabbed wound. it’s shape was clearly that of a bite mark, mirroring eddie’s, except much bigger and more savage.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It... It bit you?” stan asked.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“it was m-my fault. i-i got stuck and r-richie wuh-wuh-was trying to get me o-out and It b-b-bit him.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>beverly waved a hand out. “okay but what are you getting at? i feel like i know but that can’t be it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>bill and richie shared a look. eddie could see the fearful hesitance in richie’s face. eddie felt like he knew too. all of the losers probably knew. but hoped to god that their feelings were wrong.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“weird stuff has been happening.” richie said. it was clearly forced out, his teeth gritting against the words. “the day after that, i was so fucking sore. i just assumed it was the running and crawling but it was fucking </em>everywhere<em>. i thought my arms were gonna fall off. moms said i was hitting a growth spurt or some shit. i bought it too because i started craving the weirdest shit.</em></p>
<p><em>“she let me pop some pills and that kinda helped? that night we ate chicken even though i wanted steak. i took one bite, one fucking bite, and almost started </em>crying<em>. my mouth hurt like a motherfucker. shit, it was so bad i actually asked my dad to look at it. he said my gums looked red so i probably had something stuck in them and that i just needed to floss. when i tell you flossing made it so much worse, jesus, they actually started bleeding.</em></p>
<p><em>“i could barely lay still because it felt like some cunt was just holding a voodoo doll of me over a fire. it got so bad that i actually passed out. when i woke up, most of the pain had gone but my pillow was in shreds, </em>fucking shreds<em>. there were teeth buried in the foam. i panicked because shit i just lost teeth at thri-fucking-teen? but there weren’t any teeth missing from my mouth? so i thought it was It fucking with me. and then i went to the bathroom. and the entire bottom half of my mouth was brown with dried blood.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>richie opened his mouth wide and hooked his fingers around his top canines. they were long and sharp, wider than the rest of his teeth.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“are you saying that It turned you into a.. </em>werewolf<em>?” stan asked quietly. it wasn’t judgemental. it wasn’t condescending. it was genuine curiosity which struck everyone as surprising seeing as stan refused to believe in Its existence in the first place.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>richie snapped his mouth shut and gave a helpless shrug.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i.. i don’t.. i don’t know i really don’t know.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>and eddie could cry. the strain in richie’s voice, how small it sounded, the pain behind it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>stan made his way over to richie. it was very apparent of how much richie grew, almost a head taller than stan. richie met stan’s eyes hesitantly before the latter placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“we can find to try out then.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie gave stan a grateful, albeit weak, smile.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“yeah actually i have seen some books at the library talking about that kinda folklore stuff. if you want i could check some out for you.” ben offered.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i know a little bit about wolves? my daddy talked about them sometimes since he’s been farming sheep for a long time,” mike added, “i could ask him some things if you’d like.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie hiccuped a laugh. “all fo’ lil ole me?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>a watery smile crossed eddie’s face as he approached richie slowly. richie watched him walk up, tears brimming his reddening eyes. he always tried to keep the mood light even when the situation definitely did not call for jokes.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie reached out a pressed a small hand to richie’s chest. “we won’t let you go through this alone.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>that must’ve broke the dam behind richie’s eyes because the tears flowed freely down his cheeks. the blue irises were a melancholic turquoise that shimmered when the sun rays slipped in through the cracks of the wood hatch door and hit the raining tear drops.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie pushed his way in between richie’s arms, wrapping his own around richie’s torso. richie threw his arms around eddie’s shoulders and buried his face atop of eddie’s head, his shoulders jumping with small sobs. it wasn’t long before eddie felt other bodies wrapping around him and richie.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>so there they all stood in the middle of the underground haven in a tight circle, the unspoken promise of protecting one another hanging in the air.</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>warm air brushed over eddie’s bare shoulder and he realized he was back in the town house buried in richie’s arms. richie had his arms locked around eddie’s slim waist, forcing eddie to stand on his tip toes in order to return the hug.</p>
<p>the memories began flooding his brain now. from the time richie first started shifting.</p>
<p>
  <em>“oh my god your little ears!” eddie had squeaked.</em>
</p>
<p>to when the first full moon came around.</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’m afraid i’ll hurt you, eds.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you won’t.”</em>
</p>
<p>to the rift between richie and bill created after their first venturing into neibolt as a group.</p>
<p>
  <em>“what does he think happened to georgie? does he think he was special enough for It to keep him alive or something? or that he survived in the sewers with one goddamn arm?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i think.. i think he just wants to take back what It stole.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>“yeah? well the cunt can do it himself because his little rescue mission cost me my fucking life, eddie, and it </em>almost costed yours too!<em>”</em></p>
<p>to when richie properly marked eddie.</p>
<p>
  <em>“say it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie whimpered in response.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“say it, petal, or i’m leaving.” eddie knew it was a bluff but that didn’t stop him from clutching at richie’s forearms pleading, “no don’t please don’t, stay please.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>richie had leaned down to nose at eddie’s neck and take a deep whiff before licking a thick stripe up to his ear and growling, “</em>say. it<em>.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie whimpered. they shouldn’t be doing this at their tender age. they shouldn’t be able to feel this way about one another. yet eddie thought surely he would die if anything took him away from richie. and he knew richie felt the same.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’m yours, r-richie, i belong to you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“and?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“and i love you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you don’t sound like you mean it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i do! i mean it so bad! i love you, only you! you’re my world, i love you so much!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie could feel richie grin against his ear. “good baby. i love you too.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie had eddie seeing stars that night, smiling down at his twitching body with love pooling and overflowing in his chest.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>eddie unhooked one arm from around richie’s shoulder to brush the tips of his fingers across his own neck.</p>
<p>“you remember,” richie’s voice was muffled from where his face was tucked against the other side of eddie’s neck. “you remember me marking you?”</p>
<p>eddie nodded, his head feeling spacey at the intense memory. richie pulled away just enough for his eyes to meet eddie’s hazy ones.</p>
<p>“god you look exactly the way you did then. all dazed and pretty,” richie cupped eddie’s face with one hand. “you remember now that you’re mine.”</p>
<p>richie wasn’t asking.</p>
<p>eddie nodded again, shivering as the light blue irises turned dark and stormy. at the juncture of his shoulder and neck he could feel an itching type of heat simmering under his flesh. he traced his fingers along the jagged scar there. he always thought it was caused by a childhood injury. he scraped his nails against the skin before richie was curling his fingers around eddie’s wrist.</p>
<p>richie pressed a kiss to eddie’s palm.</p>
<p>“why me?” eddie whispered, his voice hoarse, “why did you mark me? not someone more like bev?”</p>
<p>richie studied him for a moment before dropping a kiss to eddie’s bare blushing shoulder. “that’s like asking me why i would breath oxygen when there’s water.”</p>
<p>eddie shook his head but richie was quick to stop him with a large hand grabbing his jaw.</p>
<p>“don’t. don’t you <em>dare</em> say no.” richie growled. eddie let out a pained gasp as richie’s nails dug into the skin of his jaw.</p>
<p>“you and your little fanny pack strutting around town going back and forth with stan about the poison ivy and toxic berry brambles we’d find. you’d bitch about playing near them but then scurry right to my side asking me so sweetly to lead you through the paths so you wouldn’t touch them.” richie chuckled, the deep smokey tone sending shivers down eddie’s spine.</p>
<p>“you were so strong willed but so gullible. the things i got you to believe as kids. it was adorable really, to watch your eyes sparkle when you thought i was teaching you something new. like barebacking.” richie tittered. the hand on eddie’s jaw loosened but never moved, keeping his head tilted up to meet richie’s eyes. “i really believed you would’ve followed me off of the ends of the earth. just had to kiss behind your ear and i could get you to do <em>all</em> kinds of things for me.”</p>
<p>eddie swallowed hard against the brush of richie’s hand over his throat because <em>no</em> he wasn’t putty, richie couldn’t just bend him however he wanted.</p>
<p>“you were my best friend,” eddie murmured. “i only followed you because you were my friend.”</p>
<p>“oh baby, friends don’t do what we did.”</p>
<p>eddie opened his mouth to retort but a knock at the door startled them both.</p>
<p>“eddie sweetie? are you okay?” beverly called from the other side.</p>
<p>eddie and richie shared a look before eddie was shoving richie away. “yes i’m fine, just getting dressed. thanks for letting me use your shower!”</p>
<p>“no problem, honey. we’ll be downstairs.”</p>
<p>eddie listened to her retreating footsteps, highly aware of richie moving closer behind him.</p>
<p>“we’ll talk more later.” richie said, his breath hot against eddie’s nape.</p>
<p>“no offense, but i’d rather not.”</p>
<p>richie didn’t respond, staying silent for a moment before chuckling and swerving around eddie. striding up to the door, he looked over his shoulder at eddie once before letting himself out.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>sweet gasps and moans filled the heated air in richie’s room.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>maggie and went had decided to take a weekend trip away for their anniversary. seeing as richie was bordering his eighteenth birthday, they acquiesced in richie’s pleadings to not have a babysitter.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it was barely two hours after they kissed richie goodbye and drove off to the airport when richie was ushering eddie into his house.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>with a quiet empty house richie and eddie could freely share long hugs and sweet kisses, and while that was originally richie’s plan, that’s not what happened.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the minute eddie stepped across the threshold richie was baring his teeth.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>as richie developed with the little gift pennywise had left him, he was able to recognize his friends by the scents they seemed to carry.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>whether it was due to his biased opinions of each loser or not, eddie’s was his absolute favorite.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he carried a soft lavender scent, laced with fresh roses. it was a calming and refreshing aroma that never failed to soothe each one of richie’s nerves.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>sometimes the scent would alter with his emotions, such as the clear smell of mint mixing in due to fear. or richie’s favorite, the sweet ripe scent of honeyed peaches after richie had sucked eddie’s lips raw.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>but none of those delicious scents casted off of eddie. if they did they were muted versions, overwhelmed by the unmistakable smokey scent of fire and spiced cinnamon. the musk of burning wood belonged to the one and only bill denbrough, a man now blacklisted in richie’s mind.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“bill.” he snarled.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie, still toeing off his pink sneakers, hadn’t noticed richie seething until there was a weight on his back pressing him up against the door.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie let out a surprised sound as richie tucked his nose into eddie’s neck and breathed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you were with bill.” richie snarled. he could feel eddie’s body tense up.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“uh yeah. he invited stan and i to go for smoothies so-“ richie interrupted with a click of his tongue.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie would believe that if eddie carried the fresh scent of cotton and eucalyptus that stan emitted along with the musk of smoke, but he didn’t.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“stan wasn’t there, try again baby.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie squirmed but richie only pressed against him harder. “stan couldn’t come so it was just me and bill. but it’s not like anything happened, he just wanted us three to hang out!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie grabbed at eddie’s waist and manhandled him to turn around with his back now pressed against the door.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he looked at eddie with deceivingly soft eyes as he tucked a curl behind eddie’s ear.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i believe you, i do. you’re so sweet, honey, so sweet to me, you know that?” richie watched as eddie’s tiny adam’s apple bobbed around a gulp before he nodded and leaned into richie’s hand.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“and it’s because you’re so sweet that i don’t doubt that you assumed bill just wanted to hang out.” richie sighed as eddie nuzzled his cheek into his large palm. “but i do have to ask why you were okay with him getting so </em>close<em>.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie blinked up innocently at richie, his rich brown doe eyes sparkling out of uncertainty. “h-he only hugged me, richie.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>“but that’s not all he wanted to do, sweetheart.” because faint traces of smoke lingered over eddie’s mouth and richie could see bill sealing his mouth over eddie’s, an image that made richie physically sick. richie moved his hand to grip at eddie’s jaw. “i’d like you to tell me why i can smell him on your </em>lips<em>.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie froze and it was then that he knew he wouldn’t get off easy today.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“he hurt his hand. banged it against the table. and i,” eddie gulped, “i kissed the bruise.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie could feel richie’s burning stare despite keeping his own eyes locked on his socked feet.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’m not mad at you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>that made eddie’s head pop up.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“but i’m not happy.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>part of eddie wanted to tell richie to get over it, it wasn’t a romantically charged kiss, but he knew anytime bill was in the picture there was no reasoning. there never could be after that summer.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>so eddie let richie hook his arms under his thighs to lift him up. small arms wrapped around richie’s neck as he made his way up the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie kicked his bedroom door open and eddie had to bite his tongue to keep from telling richie to not scuff up his door.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie was deposited gently on richie’s bed and left to sit and watch richie unlock his window and pry it open. eddie figured it was so he could puff on a cigarette without aggravating eddie’s lungs but was quickly proved wrong by richie’s large hands shoving eddie back down to the bed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i’ve made the executive decision to direct my anger to a more productive outlet. instead of hunting down william and caving his face in, i’ll simply make sure this type of slip up doesn’t happen again.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie opened his mouth to ask what he meant but he barely got the first syllable out when richie stuffed the bottom of eddie’s shirt into his mouth. eddie let out a garbled cry that shakily transformed into a whimper as richie licked across a pert pink nipple.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he swirled his tongue around the bud before letting his teeth graze against it. the fabric between eddie’s teeth dampened with saliva as richie gave the same treatment to the other nipple. the small boy’s chest quivered under richie’s ruthless teeth, trying to edge away from the assault.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the shifting proved unfruitful as two large hands were gripping eddie’s slim waist, forcing him to lie still as richie sucked and nipped at the petal pink buds. richie traced his tongue across eddie’s chest, groaning at the sweet smell of peaches invading his senses.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie mumbled a tiny muffled “please” that only had richie growling.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“even with your free hands, you know better than to undo my work.” richie crooned, a wolffish grinning revealing his sharp canines. mercifully, richie tugged the soaked wad of fabric out from where it was stuffed between eddie’s pink lips.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>with an unexpected gentleness, richie peeled the shirt off of eddie’s trembling torso. richie’s mouth watered at the sight of eddie’s beautifully tanned chest that still held faint marks from sessions past.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you’re so beautiful.” richie breathed out, reveling in the dark blush that spread over eddie’s nose. “the prettiest boy i’ve ever seen.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie reached out, only the tips of his fingers being able to brush over richie’s shoulders. richie backed even further out of eddie’s reach, his fingers hooked on his tiny shorts and briefs as he yanked them down soft trembling legs, leaving eddie completely bare.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie licked his tongue over his teeth feeling the telltale dull ache of his gums that meant his fangs were descending. diving down, he caught the flesh of eddie’s inner thigh between his teeth.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>as years passed eddie had realized more and more that richie was a territorial guy. even before It had ever crossed into their lives, richie knew what was his and liked to keep it that way.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it wasn’t long before eddie figured out that same possessive drive was to blame when richie bit him for the first time at bill’s house. when ben’s saccharine maple scent doused eddie’s, making it a sticky sweet pungent aroma.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the marking of his thigh became a sort of private ritual between them. whenever it began to fade, richie would graciously freshen it up. eddie could carry richie’s mark with him wherever he went without anyone ever knowing it was there.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>a wounded breathy whimper floated through the heated air as richie’s fangs broke the skin, a deliciously thick red trail of blood trickling down. richie greedily licked it up, growling at the sweet tangy flavor.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s blood was more refreshing than the sweetest glass of cold water on a scorching day could ever be.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie shoved eddie’s thighs apart roughly pulling a squeak from the smaller. two thumbs dug into the supple flesh of eddie’s ass and richie could see his nails growing into claws. he smirked.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>prying the creamy globes apart, he unveiled the prettiest petal pink hole. another feral growl ripped through his chest, making eddie shift as if to scoot away. but richie only cut his nails into the skin as reprimand.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“bunny, if you keep moving there’s no telling what my teeth will catch on.” richie said sweetly, even though eddie knew it was a dangerous warning.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie didn’t pause to see if eddie got his message before he was diving in to lick a thick stripe from eddie’s hole to his balls. eddie gasped wetly, the warmth of richie’s tongue making him quiver.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie wasted little time teasing, he already had the taste for his poor bunny and now he wanted to feast. forcing his tongue past the ring of muscle richie licked and sucked at eddie’s sensitive walls, circling the rim with his tongue before plunging back in savagely.</em>
</p>
<p><em>eddie was so </em>sweet<em>, so </em>hot<em>, richie couldn’t seem to get enough on his tongue.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s moans melted in the heavy warm air, floating between breathy and wet, airy and thick. richie would cruelly dig his nails into eddie’s thighs just to pull a choked whine from his arched throat.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie pulled back, wiping the mess from his mouth with the back of his hand before hooking his thumbs on eddie’s rim. with a stiff pointed tongue, richie licked his way back inside, this time tracing the letters of his name against the hot walls.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie let out high pitched whines, his tiny hands fisting clumps of richie’s wild curls. he couldn’t decide if he wanted to push richie away or pull him closer. he was already so close, his hips bucking up against richie’s wonderful tongue.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“clo.. close- richie please!” eddie moaned.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie pulled away completely, sitting back on his heels with a shit eating grin. eddie whined at the loss, reaching his arms out and making grabby hands at the other. richie only laughed meanly and busied himself with tugging his own shirt off.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you’re so fucking impatient.” richie scolded, slapping a hand against the bite mark on eddie’s thigh. eddie squealed at the sharp contact.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>one hand soothed over the abused thigh while the other rifled through the bedside drawer to retrieve the half used bottle of lube. strawberry scented and tinged pink. richie often joked how eddie was a lot like the lube they used.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie poured a generous amount on eddie’s hole before smearing it with two rough fingers.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the index and middle tapped at the quivering hole teasingly. “what do you say, baby? one by one or just stuff you full?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie let out a pathetic feeble cry. “o-one by one.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“stuff you full? my pleasure.” richie shoved two thick fingers past the wet ring of muscle. eddie let out another cry, this one of pain but laced with pleasure, the sharp stretch making eddie’s hips buck violently.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie had no intentions of giving eddie moments to breathe as he immediately twisted his fingers within the tight canal, burying the digits up to the knuckle.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s tiny hand curled uselessly into the fabric of richie’s shirt as he let out little pained whines. “please richie, slower, it hurts.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie faked a pout and he would’ve stopped if eddie’s little cock wasn’t hard and leaking between his plush thighs.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“yeah? it hurt me when you kissed bill today, sugar.” richie tutted. drizzling more lube over his fingers, he prodded a third finger at the rim before fully submerging it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s continuous whines tapered off into broken moans as he adjusted to the intrusion. he had just begun shifting his hips over the digits when richie crooked his fingers right there, tearing a loud slutty cry from eddie’s pink lips. richie let a devilish smirk settle over his lips.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“found it.” he sang.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie twisted and prodded his fingers, abusing that delicious sweet spot deep within eddie, making the sweet little thing sob pathetically into the air.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“a little louder, sweetie, i don’t think my neighbors can hear you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s eyes shot open in dreaded realization. the window was wide open and mocking, daring eddie to make more than a peep so all of richie’s street can know how desperate he was.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>in panic eddie shoved his own short fingers into his mouth to muffle his moans. this only drew a tsking sound from richie, and eddie worried that richie wouldn’t allow this, until he was tapping at eddie’s wrist with his free hand.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“let me do that, bunny.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie gulped before slipping his soaked fingers out of his mouth to welcome richie’s longer ones. two slid in and settled heavily over his tongue and eddie immediately let his eyes flutter at the weight.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie aimed his fingers over the sweet spot in eddie, battering against it rapidly while eddie moaned stupidly around his fingers.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s hips bucked wildly at every contact. one hand crept across his abdomen to wrap around his neglected cock until richie plunged his two fingers deep into eddie’s mouth and nearly down his throat.</em>
</p>
<p><em>eddie gagged, both hands flying up to grab at richie’s wrist. “don’t </em>fucking<em> touch what doesn’t belong to you.” richie growled.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie babbled apologies around richie’s fingers but they seemed to fall on deaf ears as richie ran his claws down eddie’s sensitive walls as he pulled out his fingers. eddie wailed at the stinging pain, his nails digging into richie’s wrist.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>grabbing eddie’s hip with his free hand, richie dragged eddie closer to his body, wiggling his fingers in eddie’s mouth just to be mean before pulling them out with a string of saliva following.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie was a drooly mess, his entire face bright pink and chest heaving. the two perked red nipples contrasted beautifully with his tanned yet flushed skin. his eyes were glazed over and unfocused, giving away his helpless fall into his headspace.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the mist like haze that clouded his brain cleared only slightly when feeling the blunt tip of richie’s cock pressing against his hole.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie blinked blearily up at richie, deep red irises looking back at him. they didn’t startle him like they should have.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>slowly richie inched his way passed the puffy ring of muscle, rubbing rawly against the abused velvety walls. eddie kept huffing these breathy whines that made richie’s chest rumble and rattle around deep groans. the burn of the stretch was so deliciously hot, eddie couldn’t help the twitching of his hips.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>once richie was fully sheathed inside he leaned down to lick under eddie’s fluttering eyes. richie rocked his hips against eddie’s making the smaller gasp wetly and reach for his arms.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the broad hard muscle under eddie’s palm sent shivers down his spine. he battled with himself over focusing his eyes on richie’s form, scared for what he would see, but he was already pulling richie down by the neck.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>when the haze cleared up a bit, eddie didn’t see richie. instead he saw a beast mounted over him, the cords in its neck straining under the flesh. fangs cut into its bottom lip but it didn’t even seem to notice as it simply bared it’s teeth and growled louder. the mop of curls had grown absolutely wild and thick and long.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie stared into the red eyes with his own brown ones, looking for any hints of blue. any hints of richie. but nothing was there. the human side of richie had completely tapped out. he was beast now.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the beast reared its hips back before savagely plunging back in, making eddie wail. it set a brutal pace that had eddie’s delicate form jostling and the headboard denting the wall. claws cut into eddie’s thighs as it grabbed them and hiked them up until the bottom of eddie’s feet faced the ceiling. its heavy set of balls slapped against the pink plush swell of eddie’s ass with each tremendous thrust that eddie swears he could feel all the way into his chest.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>one of eddie’s hands curled into the pillow his head was laying on while the other slapped over his lower tummy. eddie cried out wantonly when he felt the impression of its cock under the flesh of his tummy.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“feel that?” it growled deeply. it didn’t even </em>sound<em> like richie anymore. “gonna breed you like a bitch. gonna pump my pups directly into your slutty stomach.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>the pace it set was brutal, punching broken wails out of eddie each time. eddie’s hands shook wildly as they flailed for purchase on something, anything. anything to keep him grounded as his eyes rolled back into his skull. he fisted the sheets, its shoulders, his own hair.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the beast grunted indignantly at eddie’s frantic grappling. finally having enough, it reluctantly parted from eddie, leaving the small quivering honey boy empty and tearing up at the loss. before eddie could complain, the beast was roughly grabbing his waist and dragging him off of the bed. eddie’s shaking socked feet touched the carpeted floor and he surely would’ve fallen if the beast didn’t have a firm grip on his hips.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it pressed its thumbs in the dimples of eddie’s lower back, forcing eddie to bend at the waist slightly, his tiny hands slapping against the window sill.</em>
</p>
<p><em>“r-richie the window, no honey </em>the window<em>—!”</em></p>
<p><em>the beast pressed its sharp mouth against eddie’s red ear and snarled, “it stays </em>open<em>. let them hear what a slut you are. let them know who you belong to.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>then the burning stretch was back, another broken moan dripping from eddie’s pink lips as it entered him again. there was no gradual build up, the beast went right back to the brutal pace they stopped on.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>claws raked down eddie’s back leaving pretty red lines that would puff up with painful welts soon. its hands gripped around eddie’s hips again, the claws cutting into the bruised flesh, as eddie cried out.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>there’s was no doubt that the neighbors were fully aware of what the tozier household was up to by now if eddie’s wails were anything to go by.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie tried to muffle his moans with his own hands but that plan quickly went down the drain as the beast grabbed both wrists in one massive hand and pressed them painfully into the small of eddie’s back. eddie’s right arm twinged with pain at the twist, tears spilling delicately from his chocolate eyes. he could feel the old break sawing into his arm.</em>
</p>
<p><em>a painful sob boiled in eddie’s throat, however, it mixed in with a scream of pleasure that burst out when the beast finally, </em>finally<em>, pounded against that sweet spot deep in eddie. the one that made him see stars. the beast must’ve known it found eddie’s prostate as it focused solely on battering against it with every thrust.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“r-r-ri-rich-rich-richie-ie.” eddie mewled brokenly, completely disregarding the open window at this point. white hot stars were clouding his vision and pooling in his stomach, making him feel like he would soon explode.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie’s head hung limply over his chest, helplessly watching the rapidly returning bulge in his tummy, wide teary eyes unable to comprehend how deeply inside of him richie is. was. has always been. and always will be.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“gonna cum soon, kitten.” it growled over eddie’s pornographic moans. “gonna cum so deep in you you’ll never get it all out. gonna be inside you, part of you, for the rest of time. sweet little bitch. gonna knot you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie cried out, “please cum in me! put your pups in my! make me your bitch! make me yours!”</em>
</p>
<p><em>the beast roared and eddie could feel the spray of its cum coating his walls. a thick wad of muscle pushed against eddie’s abused rim making eddie startle. the beast only gripped his hip tighter as its knot </em>forced<em> its way into eddie.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>the extra stretch sent eddie over the edge, leaving him shaking so terribly the beast almost lost grip of him. the wall under the window sill was painted with little squirts of eddie’s thin ropes of cum. his little hips jerked wildly as he rode out his high on the beast’s knot.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the beast pressed its palm against the front of eddie’s throat, not applying too much pressure, but just enough to keep eddie still.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“relax, sweetheart.” it snarled, trailing it’s lips from eddie’s ear to his shoulder. it hovered over the fading red mark staining the juncture of eddie’s neck and shoulder. “this won’t hurt a bit.” then it sunk its teeth into the supple flesh, breaking the skin completely.</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>the harsh sunlight had stung eddie’s eyes when it peeked through the flimsy curtain. none of the other losers had slept that night and that sentiment made eddie feel better in the sense that he knew he wasn’t the only one feeling like shit.</p>
<p>bill and mike had stood shoulder to shoulder that morning, saying with conviction that now was the time. there had only been solemn head nods before they disbanded to their rooms to dress and prepare.</p>
<p>eddie had barely stepped foot in his room when another body was forcing its way in behind him. he was only able to let out an indignant huff before richie was kicking the door close.</p>
<p>“what did you leave derry for?” the question threw eddie completely off guard.</p>
<p>“is that a joke? who wouldn’t want to leave derry?”</p>
<p>“but why did <em>you</em> leave?”</p>
<p>eddie blinked once then twice dumbly. why does richie want to know? “um, the college i was accepted into was in washington. so i moved there.”</p>
<p>“why wasn’t i with you?” and while it’s a question, at the same time, it isn’t. probably because they both knew the answer, but didn’t understand it.</p>
<p>“were you supposed to go to the same university as me?” richie shook his head.</p>
<p>“no. no that’s not what i mean.”</p>
<p>“please not with the cryptic shit i’m really tired and kinda dumb right now. just say what you want to say.” eddie sighed, borderline pleaded. richie squared his jaw.</p>
<p>“why didn’t we leave derry together like we were supposed to? why didn’t we live these last 20+ years together?” and as much as eddie wanted to scowl, it was a fair question. because they had wanted to leave together didn’t they?</p>
<p>“i- rich i don’t <em>know</em>? my mom pushed so hard for me to go to college and get a high paying job so i could take care of her like she took care of me. i couldn’t say no.”</p>
<p>“yes you could have.” richie snapped.</p>
<p>“she was my mom!”</p>
<p>“and i was your love!”</p>
<p>eddie huffed. “i’m sorry our teenage dreams of running away didn’t come true but i had to grow up.”</p>
<p>“are you trying to tell me that what we had was nothing but some mutual childish crush?”</p>
<p>“maybe it was.”</p>
<p>richie scoffed bitterly. “so, you calling me at one in the morning to crawl through your window was not true love? you sobbing into my chest because you didn’t want to be away from me was nothing?”</p>
<p>“shut up, you were my best friend and you know that. you know it’d be hard to leave your best friend.”</p>
<p>richie quirked you an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“best friend. so? when you kissed me through your tears, that was just a friendly gesture? when you crawled into my lap and begged me to claim you again, it was just guys being bros?” eddie shook his head violently because he could hear the pathetic breathy whimpers he made that night.</p>
<p>
  <em>richie please i don’t want to be away from you, please make me yours again.</em>
</p>
<p>“i was emotional, it was a mistake.”</p>
<p>richie barked out a humorless laugh. “a mistake? that’s what it was? what i was? couldn’t have been too bad of a mistake because you surely didn’t mind making it a couple of times.”</p>
<p>eddie’s face flushed to a bright red. because richie was right.</p>
<p>“listen, richie-“</p>
<p>“no <em>you</em> listen, cupcake. you can’t call us a mistake. not after you would <em>beg</em> me to bite you, not after you would hang off my arm when we went out together. not after you would crawl all over me no matter where we were. you can act like you didn’t love me but i know the fucking truth, and that is that your heart, mind, body, and <em>fucking soul</em> belongs to me. always has and always will.”</p>
<p>“then why didn’t you follow me?!” eddie screamed. richie physically stumbled back as if eddie had slapped him.</p>
<p>“what?”</p>
<p>eddie sucked in a shaky breath. he remembered. looking out of windows into the roads wondering if richie was in one of those passing cars. because richie promised, hadn’t he? he promised the he wouldn’t let eddie leave alone. that he would find eddie. no matter where he went in the world.</p>
<p>“why didn’t you come after me like you promised? because you did promise. you said, ‘<em>eds</em>’ and i said don’t call me that, but still you said, ‘<em>eds, it doesn’t matter where the ol ball and chain takes you, i’ll always be right behind you.</em>’ you were supposed to come to washington with me.” tears flowed freely down eddie’s puffy cheeks. his voice wavered with every word, making richie’s heart ache.</p>
<p>richie looked at eddie wide eyed. he had forgotten, hadn’t he? richie slowly approached eddie with open arms.</p>
<p>“eds, baby-“</p>
<p>eddie shoved him away by his chest before messily wiping away his tears with his sleeves.</p>
<p>“i need to get ready. please leave”</p>
<p>richie looked helplessly at eddie’s drooping form. against either one of their desires, richie did leave eddie’s room.</p><hr/>
<p>the cruel cackle that rang through richie’s head was by no means unfamiliar. he had lived so much of his life hearing that cursed voice. just on the edge of his senses. that demon whispering to him, challenging him.</p>
<p>
  <em>give in, richie, give in. you know you want to see blood spill. you want to hear murderous screams. it’s beautiful isn’t it?</em>
</p>
<p>how many times had richie torn the flesh at his temple and around his ears trying to claw the voice out until it gargled around the thick blood.</p>
<p>he caged the beast within his heart but the bars were growing weaker against its thrashing. at times he could quiet it but more often then not the beast would tear another link. another step to freedom.</p>
<p>richie wasn’t a monster. he couldn’t be.</p>
<p>then why would he one night stands limp out of his apartment, battered and bloody. he doesn’t even remember getting them into bed sometimes.</p>
<p>
  <em>richie the teenage wolfman. has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?</em>
</p>
<p>“i’m not a fucking monster like you!”</p>
<p>pennywise only screeched a laugh and swung at him again. beverly and ben had disappeared and it seemed as if only him and mike were in the ring.</p>
<p>where’s eddie crossed his mind but pennywise was thrusting his claws in mike’s direction so richie bolted into action.</p>
<p>“i’m richie tozier. son of went and maggie tozier. i’m an only child so i got all the attention i ever wanted. my parents loved me.” richie announced. the spider shrieked.</p>
<p>“they wanted a nice girl, not such a <em>filthy</em> boy!” It hissed.</p>
<p>richie shook his head. “pops loved to do impressions with me. on some weekends he’d take me for ice cream and we would do voice overs of surrounding people. he laughed at mine, said i was his boy. his boy.”</p>
<p>pennywise startled back.</p>
<p>“keep going richie!” mike screamed, him and bill picking up a large stone. “i think that’s hurting It!”</p>
<p>“my mom didn’t get my jokes but she still loved me. sometimes she’d try to imitate me and it was fucking hilarious. me and pops always had a good laugh at her playing along!”</p>
<p>pennywise let out another deafening screech. mike and bill staggered over to the spider with the stone in hand. richie breathed.</p>
<p>“my name is richie tozier and i am <em>not a fucking monster!”</em></p>
<p>bill cried out as the rock slipped from his hands and landed on his foot. pennywise swiveled around with a yell and raised a piercer.</p>
<p>“hey!” richie roared, “pay attention to me you sloppy bitch i’m not fucking done!”</p>
<p>richie opened his mouth to yell again but suddenly fell silent. mike whipped around from helping bill to find richie caught in the deadlights.</p>
<p>“shit! richie!” he cried. ben and beverly stumbled out of one of the coves, both streaked with blood and dirt. beverly screamed when she saw richie’s floating form.</p>
<p>eddie dashed out of the cove next to the couple, his right arm twisted unnaturally. mike couldn’t imagine the pain eddie must’ve been in but it clearly didn’t matter as eddie bolted forward.</p>
<p>without any hesitation, eddie shot the spear bev gave him earlier right into the gapping maw of Its mouth, making It choke and stagger back while simultaneously releasing richie.</p>
<p>ben grabbed beverly’s hand and took the opportunity to lead them across the cavern to mike and bill.</p>
<p>eddie kneeled over richie’s body, cupping his face with his good hand.</p>
<p>“richie i did it! i really did it! <em>did you see me?!</em>” eddie cried victoriously. richie blinked dumbly, slowly returning to his body.</p>
<p>“eddie! duck!” mike bellowed.</p>
<p>eddie whipped his head around to see a talon aiming for him. richie’s hand fisted the front of his shirt, yanking him down.</p>
<p>the talon still cut deeply across eddie’s back making him scream in pain. richie sprung up, taking eddie with him.</p>
<p>“shit oh fuck, eddie honey.” richie yammered, hugging eddie into his chest and looking down at his bloody back.</p>
<p>the talon reared back and ben screamed for them to move. one of Its legs swung at the group as the talon aimed for richie’s back. eddie gasped and gathered what little strength he had left and shoved richie and himself out of the line of fire. richie’s heel caught onto a protruding stone, sending him back onto his ass.</p>
<p>eddie was only able to gasp before hearing the terrible cackle of It, followed by pounding steps. he looked up just in time to see the clown’s face lunging at him, tackling him to the ground.</p>
<p>Its jaws unhinged as its teeth descended and <em>bit</em> into eddie’s right shoulder. eddie screamed his throat bloody at the burning sensation that spread all the way to his fingertips. beverly screeched eddie’s name but her voice was overwhelmed by Its muffled cry of glee.</p>
<p>eddie smashed the fist of his good hand into one of Its yellow eyes, making the beast shriek. Its teeth detached, taking the better part of eddie’s dirty jacket with It. eddie could feel the coarse hair of Its spiderlike legs through the fabric of his jeans, making his skin crawl. the weight of the monster crushed his abdomen and pelvis, rendering him immobile from the waist down.</p>
<p>“poor darling eddie bear.” pennywise crooned, the jagged teeth dripping with his blood. “so sad he’s so weak. so helpless.” It bit out.</p>
<p>eddie grit his teeth as It dove back down to sink its teeth back into his shoulder. the muffled cry he let out was nothing short of pathetic, tears mixing with dirt and blood on his cheeks. he would die here. It would take his life and he would die here in the sewers right under the town that never loved him.</p>
<p>he wouldn’t let it be in vain though.</p>
<p>“so sad you’re such a pussy.” eddie bit out, although it was more of a whimper. pennywise let out a confused noise, similar to that of a whine of a dog. Its teeth sunk deeper and eddie screamed again.</p>
<p>it wasn’t long now, the edges of his vision weren’t turning blurry, they were black. darkness was enclosing on him. he could barely hear anything except for the reverberating growls of It and his own cries. some of his friends’ yells made it to his ears but nothing he could decipher.</p>
<p>“sending henry to kill me, instead of doing it yourself?” It released eddie’s shoulders, the clown face twisted horribly in anger, and strangely enough, fear. eddie spat a wad of saliva into the demon’s face. “<em>bitch move, mr. gray.”</em></p>
<p>and for a second eddie presented the widest grin to the monster that haunted his childhood because he could feel it shrinking. he could feel its power waning.</p>
<p>pennywise screeched again, rearing back to bite eddie, this time with the intent to take off his arm, but it never came.</p>
<p>the weight on top of eddie was thrown off of him, from a distance he heard roaring and screaming and the tearing of.... something. everything sounded like it was underwater. maybe he was underwater. maybe the cavern finally flooded. maybe he would drown. his face twisted up in disgust, what a horrible place to die in. but he didn’t feel too bad, because he had done something.</p>
<p>twice now, he has made It feel small. made It feel like It had no power. everything that he had ever been scared of? he laughed right in their faces. he was stronger than It and he always had been. richie was right.</p>
<p><em>richie</em>..</p>
<p>eddie tried his best to sit up but nothing was responding to him. he was able to turn his head very slightly and could make out a few figures running to him and heard the terribly blood curdling screeches from the spider but he was falling into a thick suffocating darkness. his only thought being: <em>richie</em>.</p><hr/>
<p>eddie was used to strange dreams. he had dealt with them the better part of his life. they often took place in dense forests or sticky caves or sometimes vast savannas overflowing with weeds and shrubs.</p>
<p>many of these dreams involved unnerving or straight up terrifying variables. creatures lurking and prowling, threatening to open eddie up and show him everything wrong inside. wanting to devour him. to rip his petite body to shreds until there was nothing left.</p>
<p>but sometimes he dreamed of a certain creature. or visitor as he fondly referred to it in later years. it wasn’t an alien or a robot or a science fiction monster most kids would dream about.</p>
<p>his visitor was a wolf. a rather large one at that, towering over him several feet. even when it would lay down the top of its back would reach eddie’s hip.</p>
<p>the first time the wolf appeared in his dreams, he was running in a forest. he didn’t know exactly what he was running to, or away from, he just knew that he couldn’t stop. his thighs would ache and his lungs would burn but he wouldn’t slow down or stop. heavy panting joined his own whistling breath as the wolf trotted right up beside him.</p>
<p>eddie looked to his side to see familiar bright ocean eyes staring directly at him but he wasn’t startled or scared. if anything, he was comforted by this presence. eddie never found out why he was running in the woods because soon after meeting the wolf he would wake up, but that was not the last time he would see it.</p>
<p>the wolf would show up sporadically, never two nights in a row, and never in the same circumstances.</p>
<p>eddie can remember one dream where he was walking along a river bed when a hard furry head was bullying its way in between his thighs from behind. it scooted him along the top of its head until eddie was seated on its back. it was funny because eddie had wondered in waking hours if the wolf would ever mind carrying him. and here without any words ever being exchanged, he was tossed onto the wolf’s back without a second glance and he was riding the wolf along the river bed.</p>
<p>never had eddie felt safer than in the presence of his wolf.</p>
<p>but this dream was a bit different. his wolf approached him but he did not tread on all fours. he walked much like the way a man would.</p>
<p>eddie wanted to move, to meet him, but found his limbs to be unresponsive. something that normally would send heavy pangs of distress into eddie’s chest, but he found himself in a state of peace. serene, floaty, and dazed.</p>
<p>the closer the wolf got, the hazier eddie’s surroundings became. almost as if he was getting tunnel vision. the only thing that mattered was his wolf.</p>
<p>a heavy paw— <em>no it was a hand</em>— fell upon his cheek. piercing ruby eyes locked with his own. speckles of periwinkle sparkled among the sea of red. eddie thought it was beautiful.</p>
<p>the wolf was talked now but his words were garbled. the wolf never ever talked to him, so it must be important. eddie strained to make out his words but his mind was floating somewhere between the waking world and his dreams and he didn’t know which side the wolf was talking from.</p>
<p>eddie tried to respond but his mouth merely bobbed open and close silently like a fish gasping around air.</p>
<p>“..ds.”</p>
<p>what? eddie squeezes his eyes shut. maybe blocking off his sight will enhance his hearing.</p>
<p>“...ke up.”</p>
<p>eddie choked around a gasp. his arm burned, why did his arm burn so much?</p>
<p>“..ddie! eddie!”</p>
<p>his head throbbed as the pain in his arm— no his shoulder— shot through every nerve ending. what had he done?</p>
<p>suddenly, even behind his closed eyelids, the light was too bright. his ears rang with shrill white noise.</p>
<p>“eds! please baby, wake up!”</p>
<p>“shuddup rishie <em>too loud.</em>” eddie slurred, his tongue feeling ten times too heavy for his mouth.</p>
<p>a bark of laughter was heard and eddie could feel something squeezing his waist.</p>
<p>“jesus eds, thank fucking god you’re okay fucking shit honey.” babbled a voice much too close to his ear.</p>
<p>“shhhh i’m dead shhhh.” eddie mumbled against fabric. whatever, or whoever, was holding him shook. around laughter or sobs, eddie wasn’t sure, his eyes where still screwed shut. even still, eddie heard the swashing of running water and could smell the sweet sticky scent of overgrowth.</p>
<p>eddie could picture his surroundings in his mind. he spent so much of his summer days down in the quarry with his friends to not know where he was.</p>
<p>“you’re not dead, honey, <em>you’re alive.</em> thank god you’re alive. open your eyes, sweetheart. please lemme see you.” the voice said, pleaded.</p>
<p>eddie whined, shaking his head. he didn’t want to open his eyes, his head hurt too much, the light was <em>too</em> bright.</p>
<p>“come on, bambi eyes.” eddie winced as his eyes cracked open, allowing the piercing sun rays in.</p>
<p>the figure looming over him and holding him so tenderly slowly came into focus. cracked glasses were the first feature to come to full clarity.</p>
<p>“dummy, you broke your glasses.” eddie murmured, drawing a hoarse chuckle from richie.</p>
<p>“and i’d do it again to save your sweet ass.”</p>
<p>the whooping and cheers of the others flailing in the water finally broke through eddie’s haze and he knew they had won. they had beaten It. and richie had saved his life.</p>
<p>eddie gave a tiny tired smile. “i know.”</p>
<p>and whether it was the rushing he felt knowing It was dead and they had all made it out alive, or the sparkling iridescent cerulean blue swimming in richie’s eyes, eddie couldn’t stop himself from saying it.</p>
<p>“richie, i.. i love you.”</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>eddie came to slowly, welcomed with aching hips and a raw stinging on his neck. he laid bare on richie’s bed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>said man stood with his back facing eddie, smoking a cigarette, dressed in pants but no shirt. he had returned to his fully human form by now, the only evidence of the shift being the stretch marks across his back that eddie found beautifully intricate.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie gracefully blew out a tendril of blue smoke, “finally awake? i was getting worried. almost thought i killed you with my dick.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie rolled his eyes and sat up with a groan.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“no but it feels like you did. did you fuck me with your dick or your fist?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie turned around with a quirked brow and a smirk. “no, but you’re giving me ideas.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie shivered at the devilish look on his lover’s face.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“now get up and get dressed. we’re meeting bill at mcdonald’s.” richie ordered before flicking the cigarette out the window.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“why? does bill need something?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“no. i called him.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>eddie furrowed his brows, his pink mouth curled into a scowl. “do i dare ask why?”</em>
</p>
<p><em>richie chuckled darkly. “how about you </em>don’t<em> and just get dressed.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“alright fine, lemme just clean up first.” eddie said, standing on his shaky legs.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>richie’s large hand curled tightly around eddie’s upper arm.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“you’ll do no such thing.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“wha- why not?”</em>
</p>
<p><em>“because i want my mark and my scent clearly stamped across your pretty little figure. we’re going to go have a nice little meal and chat with billy boy and make it abundantly clear that you belong to me.” richie growled, pressing his thumb into the bloody bite on eddie’s neck, pulling a whimper out from the smaller. “and let him know that if he lays a finger on what belongs to me, i’ll </em>gouge<em> out his eyes and make him </em>eat<em> them.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>eddie looked up into richie’s stormy ocean eyes, his head feeling light and floaty.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“yes sir.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“and?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i love you.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“i love you too, little one.”</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>eddie’s entire upper body ached under the tightly wrapped bandages. he was glad to be in bed. even if it was the lumpy, and most likely infested, mattress of the town house. eddie just wanted to sink into whatever softness he could find.</p>
<p>he was alone in his room, left to rest before finally being able to leave derry again.</p>
<p>he found it strange. there was a dull ache in his chest when he thought about leaving, and it wasn’t caused by the wound.</p>
<p>eddie turned his cheek to press against the cool pillow and he saw himself, a little over twenty years younger, standing at the window. only it wasn’t the derry town house window. it was his dingy and cloudy window from his dorm.</p>
<p>he would just stand there, sometimes rolling a chair over to finish assignments by the light of the stars, staring out across the campus and to the road. like he was waiting to see something.</p>
<p>or someone.</p>
<p>
  <em>but what? what was eddie looking for? and why would eddie’s heart jump when a run down truck would pass by?</em>
</p>
<p>“richie.” eddie whispered. with his good hand he wiped away the tears assaulting his eyelashes.</p>
<p>how many hours did he spend looking out of that old college window, waiting for something he couldn’t even remember? part of him feels angered by the thought. richie never came for him like he said he would. why?</p>
<p>but another part of eddie thought, maybe it would’ve ended differently if they did run away together. maybe mike wouldn’t be able to reach out to them and It would continue desecrating this world.</p>
<p>maybe this was how it was supposed to be.</p>
<p>the door handle rattling drove eddie out of his thoughts. a smile involuntarily spread across his lips when he saw richie’s broad form in the door way.</p>
<p>“mornin miss america, are ya decent for company?”</p>
<p>eddie huffed, regretting it shortly after as a nick of pain surged through his chest.</p>
<p>“yeah yeah come in, trashmouth.”</p>
<p>richie gave him a goofy smile as he kicked the door shut and trudged over. “how’re you feeling?”</p>
<p>“sore. really sore.” eddie mumbled. richie gave him an apologetic smile as he seated himself on the edge of eddie’s bed.</p>
<p>“i’m sorry.”</p>
<p>“it’s not your fault.”</p>
<p>richie pulled a face but didn’t push the subject. “have you slept?</p>
<p>“what happened to It?”</p>
<p>their voices overlapped, making them both smile a little.</p>
<p>“what was that?”</p>
<p>“what happened to It?”</p>
<p>richie’s smile faltered and eddie’s heart stuttered. did they not kill It?</p>
<p>“It’s dead.” eddie’s breath hitched in his throat.</p>
<p>“really? are you really sure? we thought we killed It last time.”</p>
<p>“yeah well last time i didn’t remove Its heart with my teeth.”</p>
<p>eddie bolted upright, all of the pain along his chest put on the back burner. “<em>what</em>?”</p>
<p>richie shrugged his shoulders before cracking his neck. “it wasn’t a pretty sight. don’t worry yourself over it.” but eddie shook his head. it would’ve been cute had the topic of conversation been different.</p>
<p>“please i need to know.”</p>
<p>richie met eddie’s eager eyes with tired ones before recounting the fight. of how seeing It hurting eddie made richie see red.</p>
<p>
  <em>his bones cracked painfully as they grew beneath his burning flesh. his rage overtaking the pain, he barely felt the tearing of his muscles as his chest and shoulders expanded into even larger and sturdier blocks.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>his clothes practically disintegrated under the stress of new bulging muscle. the cheap fabric of his shoes busted as ragged paws took place of his feet. his fangs descended as did his claws. the ocean blue of his eyes melted into a crimson red, finalizing the change from man to beast.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>it was the first time in years that richie had consciously fully shifted. even on nights when he half shifted, nobody really blinked an eye at his haggard and rowdy appearance. he was often shitfaced and shot to the sky anyway. so for twenty plus years the beast in him could hide in plain sight.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>beverly had screamed when she saw richie’s form, afraid it was another one of Its minions. but the wolf roared as it lunged at the spider, severing one of Its many legs with his teeth.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It let out terrible shrieks of pain and fear as the wolf ripped Its body to shreds mercilessly. the beast clawed his way into Its chest before tearing the still beating heart out. It let out a blood curdling cry as the beast bit into the black heart.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the moment the wolf sunk its teeth, a blinding light flashed across the cavern shocking them all. richie was thrown back, landing on the stony ground next to bev and eddie. under his flesh his blood boiled. it felt like there was a fire burning inside of him, melting away his insides.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>the next thing richie knew, the cavern was coming down and they needed to fucking run. he felt like he was hungover but all he knew was he had his hands back as he could use them to carry eddie out of here. so that’s exactly what he did, with eddie’s limp body slung over his shoulder, he followed bill through the pipes, until they were stumbling out into the barrens.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>eddie breathed out slowly. “ you, you killed It.”</p>
<p>richie nodded.</p>
<p>“why?” and it wasn’t really a question. and they both knew it. richie fixed eddie with his intense gaze, drowning the smaller in the fierce ocean.</p>
<p>“because It hurt you.”</p>
<p>eddie swallowed thickly before he crawled into richie’s lap. his knees caged richie’s hips in a straddle and one small shaky hand rested on richie’s shoulder.</p>
<p>not one word was spoken between the two as eddie leaned in to press a timid feathery kiss to richie’s dry lips. richie watched him with wide eyes before he was gripping the back of eddie’s neck with one hand and bringing their lips back together in a heated kiss.</p>
<p>richie swiped his tongue across the seam of eddie’s sweet lips before his was bullying his way into eddie’s mouth. eddie opened up beautifully for him, his cherry tongue flicking out to meet richie’s.</p>
<p>the heated kiss turned dirty quickly as richie ground his hips up against the plush swell of eddie’s ass. eddie gasped into richie’s ruthless mouth at the contact before he whined,</p>
<p>“please richie i <em>need</em> you.”</p>
<p>“what do you need, petal?”</p>
<p>eddie mewled as richie trailed sloppy wet kisses down his neck. “need you in me, please. It hurt me, need you to make it better.”</p>
<p>the hand on eddie’s neck shot up into his hair, grasping the soft locks tightly.</p>
<p>“say what you know i wanna hear. what you know is the truth.”</p>
<p>eddie whispered softly, “make me yours. i am yours.”</p>
<p>“and?”</p>
<p>“i love you.”</p>
<p>and eddie meant it with every cell in his little body.</p>
<p>“i love you too.”</p>
<p>so richie laid his boy back down on the bed and took him apart piece by piece. he kissed every spot of blood showing through the bandages and licked over every scar. he growled when he saw the scar on eddie’s neck.</p>
<p>scraping his teeth along the crooked line, he drew soft moan after moan from eddie’s pretty lips.</p>
<p>eddie insisted that he didn’t need preparation, but richie ate him out for a few minutes for good measure.</p>
<p>richie entered his sweet hot body slowly, groaning at the tight hold around his thick cock. he made love to eddie, making sure to worship every inch of skin, slowly building them both up to their peaks.</p>
<p>eddie’s eyes had gone cloudy and unfocused when richie hiked his legs up onto his shoulders for a deeper reach. his red bitten lips parted in a constant stream of moans.</p>
<p>richie caught eddie’s lower lip between his teeth and gnawed on the plush flesh as they came together. eddie’s body arched beautifully, presenting two perked nipples which richie greedily licked over. eddie whined in overstimulation despite throwing his good arm around richie’s neck to keep him in place.</p>
<p>richie stayed buried in eddie until bill came knocking at eddie’s door to check on him. eddie dismissed him with a soft downy voice, still dreamy and laced with pleasure.</p>
<p>“you okay, cupcake?”</p>
<p>eddie nodded slowly, his eyes still having that post orgasm glazed look.</p>
<p>“just surprised. wolfie didn’t pop out like he normally does.”</p>
<p>richie hummed from where his face was tucked against eddie’s neck.</p>
<p>“i think... i think it’s gone. the wolf part.”</p>
<p>eddie shifted. “really?”</p>
<p>“well, when i bit pennywise, i don’t know. it was like i was on fire. like something inside of me was burning. i think when i killed It, i killed the monster he put in me too.”</p>
<p>a small soft hand pressed against richie’s rough cheek.</p>
<p>“you know, i never thought you were a monster when you had it. even if the clown put it in you, there were so many times you used it to help the others? or save me.”</p>
<p>and that was true. ben had to write a report on wolves and a lot of his speculations came from things richie told him. he kept cats away from stan who was allergic, and strangely enough he was a good sheep herding during the summer at mike’s farm.</p>
<p>but that didn’t change the fact that every full moon he shifted into a bloodthirsty werewolf. how many times had he accidentally scratched bev? or eddie for that matter?</p>
<p>or when clawed bill after bill had ran up to him screaming about beverly being in the sewers.</p>
<p>“i think if It put the wolf in someone like henry, it would’ve been a monster no question. but he put it in you, and you made it something good.”</p>
<p>richie propped himself up with his elbow and gawked down at eddie. eddie only smiled up at him.</p>
<p>“i don’t think it’s possible to make a monster out of richie tozier.”</p>
<p>richie leaned down to press a kiss to eddie’s mouth. if he wasn’t a monster in eddie’s eyes, then that’s all the fucking mattered.</p>
<p>“god i love you.”</p>
<p>eddie giggled sweetly. “i suppose i’m somewhat fond of you.”</p>
<p>richie smiled as he nosed along eddie’s cheek and down to the scar on his neck. he planted a kiss on it. the mark of his boy. richie would move the stars for his boy and they both knew it.</p>
<p>eddie carded his thin fingers through richie’s curls, a soft smile dancing across his lips. he didn’t need to say it, but he couldn’t stop himself. not that he wanted to.</p>
<p>“richie?”</p>
<p>richie’s eyes met eddie’s. blue irises that reminded eddie of warm summer skies and beautiful rippling lakes looked down at him and eddie felt his heart grow three sizes in his chest.</p>
<p>his small hands cupped richie’s face and he whispered ever so softly and fondly,</p>
<p>
  <em>“i love you too.”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>come yell at me on tumblr at<br/>@rosiethots</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>